Curated OER
Exploring Alaska's Seamounts - Volcanoes, Plates, and Chains
Students examine the formation of seamounts in the Gulf of Alaska. In this seamount instructional activity, student focus on how the Axial-Cobb-Eikelberg-Patton chain was formed. They learn the associated vocabulary, and watch a teacher...
Curated OER
Practical GPS Applications in Forestry & Agriculture
An explanation of the Global Positioning System (GPS) and the Geographic Information System (GIS) is given in this presentation. Uses and applications are considered. How it works and sources of error are also touched upon. A large...
Curated OER
Old World and New World - Why Contact Took So Long
Young scholars use a globe to determine why contact between the old world and the new world took a long time. In this map skills instructional activity, students analyze routes between regions to determine why it took so long for the old...
Curated OER
Identifying Continents and Oceans
Students locate and identify the four major oceans and the seven continents on a world map. They use an unlabeled world map and compass rose to describe relative locations of the continents and oceans.
Michigan Sea Grant
Fish Habitat and Humans
Strict habitat requirements are needed for the survival of fish populations and fish variety in the Great Lakes. Young scientists become experts in the basic needs of fish and understand how survival necessities can vary with different...
Curated OER
Navigation
Students study the basic methods for finding one's position on Earth. Latitude can be deduced from the height above the horizon of the pole star or of the noontime Sun, while longitude requires an accurate clock giving universal time.
Curated OER
Viewpoints
In this map worksheet, students review latitude, longitude, equator, and prime meridian. This worksheet has 5 matching and 8 fill in the blank questions.
Curated OER
Adventures With Maps And Globes
First graders examine the differences between a map and a globe. They discuss and identify the symbols on maps and globes, then in small groups complete a worksheet. Students then complete a Venn Diagram comparing maps and globes.
Curated OER
Science: Hurricanes As Heat Engines
Students conduct Internet research to track the path of Hurricane Rita. They record the sea surface temperature of the Gulf of Mexico during and after the hurricane and draw conclusions about how hurricanes extract heat energy from the...
Curated OER
Orientation of the Earth in Space
Students hypothesize the location of the sun in the sky at diferent times of day and at different latitudes. They perform several experiments to provide evidence for their hypothesis. Experiments including observing the sun's position at...
Curated OER
Scientist Tracking Network
Students correlate surface radiation with mean surface temperature of several geographic regions. They observe how these parameters change with latitude and construct an understanding of the relationship of solar radiation to seasonal...
PHET
Where to See an Aurora
Where can you see an aurora in North America? After completing an astronomy activity, scholars can locate the exact coordinates. Pupils plot points of the inner and outer ring of the auroral oval and answer questions based on...
Curated OER
The Solstices
Compare surface temperatures when the solstice occurs in the different hemispheres. Young scientists draw conclusions from their investigation of data collected using spreadsheets and a globe.
Curated OER
Map Making
Young scholars use a tennis ball and paper to construct a student-made globe. They sketch in continents and major map features and then compare a flat map to a globe.
University of Colorado
Phases of Charon
Charon, the largest of Pluto's moons, was discovered in 1978. Lesson is a walk through of how to solve for the phases of Charon. It uses two different points on Pluto and takes into account the tilt of the pole, the rotational axis, and...
Curated OER
Charles Lindberghs's Flight to Paris
Learners practice map skills. In this map skills lesson, students locate the cities of New York and Paris on a map. Learners read about the flight made by Charles Lindbergh in May 1927 from New York to Paris. Students answer 8 questions...
Curated OER
Design an Island
Learners make a map of an imaginary island using the topographic symbols provided from a worksheet. Students place lakes, dwellins, reefs, etc. in areas where they would logically be located from understanding how the topography of an...
Curated OER
How far have we traveled?
Students practice longitude and latitude to determine given position on Earth's surface, convert and calculate angular measurements, and use Pythagorean Theorem to determine change in position or distance traveled between any two locations.
Curated OER
How to be a Great Navigator!
Students, through teacher lecture and class discussion, explore historical methods of navigation: dead reckoning and celestial navigation.
Curated OER
Comparison of Snow Cover on Different Continents
Students use the Live Access Server (LAS) to form maps and a numerical text file of snow cover for each continent on a particular date and analyze the data for each map, corresponding text file to determine an estimate of snow cover for...
Curated OER
Creating Station Models
Young scholars review weather conditions at various cities and create station models on a weather map.
Curated OER
Design an Island
Students explore islands. They create a two- or three-dimensional map of an island. They explain how the topography of an area influences the location of water sources, ecosystems, and human settlements. Lesson includes adaptations for...